his T-shirt to reach the skin beneath. She hated being naked, but she loved seeing Xane in the buff, because he was ripped and inked, and had rings through his nipples that she liked to suck on.
His movements became a little ragged, and his hold on her slipped. Dani locked her legs more tightly around his waist. She didn’t want this to stop, or for them to fall apart, although the idea of him turning her around, shoving her dress right up so that he could fondle her nipples while he jammed her against the warm metal of the bus and did her from behind, certainly fired her imagination.
But it was only ever happening in her head.
Xane’s big hands found a purchase on her arse as their bodies continued to slap together in a steady rhythm. She could feel the tension building inside him. His pulse throbbed against the side of his temple, and a line of perspiration formed above his lip.
‘God, I fucking love you.’ He slid his hand into her hair and pulled her forward so that their mouths met in a hard, biting kiss. Then he was thrusting deep and crying out, while his grip tightened almost to the point of being painful. ‘Dani … Fuck, Dani …’ His loins glued themselves to hers and she felt the spurt of his come inside her. It was enough to tip her over the edge again. And enough, at least for a moment, for her to forget about their surroundings.
At the sound of a quiet round of applause, Dani opened her eyes and gave a screech.
Cave Troll was standing a few feet away, watching them.
‘Damn … damn …’ She tried to straighten her clothes, but Xane was still inside her and wouldn’t let go. ‘Put me down, Xane. Right now.’
‘Take a breath. It’s OK.’ He kissed the tip of her nose. Then he turned his head to address their observer. ‘Fuck off, mate. You’re making the lady jittery.’
‘You can’t crucify a guy for watching when you’re shagging out in the open.’
‘I’m just saying, give us a moment.’
‘That’s all you’ve got. Spook’s on his way across, and I’ve just seen Rock Giant too.’ Black Halo’s favourite roadie then ambled back up the tour-bus steps as if it was commonplace to have a chat with people who were making out.
‘You OK?’ Xane asked.
Dani nodded. ‘Put me down, though, before they get here.’
Xane lowered her gently. He’d only bared his arse, for his jeans were slim-fitting and clung to his thighs. He tucked his rapidly fading hard-on back inside them and zipped up.
Dani kicked her knickers out of sight underneath the bus, then instantly regretted it. Her skirt was too short to be going commando. ‘I need to nip back onto the bus.’ She hastily kissed Xane on the cheek, then slipped out of his grasp and followed Cave Troll up the steps. All her possessions were packed in her suitcase ready to leave, but Xane had left a stash of things in the closet. She quickly rifled through the items in the upper bunk room and found a pair of clingy shorts. They were a little on the large side, but at least she wasn’t going to unintentionally flash anyone. Now all she had to do was brace herself for seeing Luthor.
Xane watched Dani hurry up the steps onto the tour bus, disappointed that she felt she needed to hide. He understood her reasons. He just didn’t necessarily get them, but then he hadn’t had his skin sliced open by a group of religious nuts every time a dirty thought had crossed his mind. If he had, they’d have run out of skin a long time ago.
If he had his way, the evil witches responsible for making Dani’s life such hell would be doing jail time right now. He wished Dani would report them, but her expression turned cold and the light in her eyes died if he so much as mentioned it. At least it seemed her father wasn’t quite the prick she’d been led to believe. Dani had contacted him a few times now via Skype, and there was even talk of them meeting up at some point.
‘Did I scare her off?’ Spook asked, joining Xane by the side of the tour bus.
‘She wanted to freshen up.’ He noticed her panties poking out from under the bus, and hunched down to retrieve them.
‘Corrupting her again?’ Spook asked, watching Xane stuff the scrap of silk and lace into his pocket.
‘She initiated everything.’
Spook clapped him across the back. ‘Only in your dreams.’ They stood back and looked one another over for a moment. Three weeks wasn’t a long time, considering the length of their friendship, but there had still been a few changes. Spook’s blond hair was a good few inches shorter, and the skin on his upper arm was still slightly pink around the design of a new tattoo.
‘Let’s have a look.’ Xane turned his friend’s arm so he could see the design. It was clearly another variant on the Norse theme of Spook’s other tattoos.
‘Mjolnir,’ Spook elaborated. ‘Thor’s Hammer.’
‘Looks good. That the only new addition?’
‘For the moment.’
They began walking towards the lake edge, where rows upon rows of speedboats and sailboats were moored. Xane looked back, but there was still no sign of Dani. Xane prayed she wasn’t cowering in a closet.
‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’ Spook asked. ‘I like her, Xane, and she’s good for you, anyone can see that, but it’s obvious she’s way out of her depth. You’re a dirty fucker, you don’t need me to point that out, and she’s like spun sugar. I’m not sure she’s really cut out to be part of your threesome fantasies.’
‘We’re not a threesome. Dani and Luthor aren’t fucking. Nor have I embroiled her in anything. She was the one who insisted on Luthor and me making out.’
‘You’re fucking them both, Xane, or you will be as soon as our new drummer puts in an appearance, and don’t pretend you haven’t been fantasising about taking them both to bed. I know you. I know how your mind works, especially when it’s your cock doing the thinking. But you need to get your head in the game, because you can’t screw this up. We need Luthor to stick around or this band is going to dissolve around our ears. Black Halo can’t take another drama. We’re barely holding together as it is.’
The last few months had been rough, starting with Elspeth and Steve’s shock marriage, followed by Steve’s untimely death and then all the unpleasantness with Iain. Yet somehow they’d weathered all that, and things had to get better from this point on … had to.
There wouldn’t be any more drama. Especially not where they were heading.
‘Do you think the others are going to show?’ Spook asked.
‘Why wouldn’t they?’
His friend shot him a side-eye.
‘They’ll be here,’ Xane said decisively. The bastards had better be, or he was going to chop them into itty little bits.
Spook rubbed the non-existent fuzz upon his jaw. ‘Well, Ash will be. He and Ginny are flying in by helicopter later
